I don’t claim to be an expert on parenting or education, but like many I had a fair amount of skepticism when I noticed how my daughter did her math problems. Gone were the rote times-tables, memorization, and lengthy explanations that I grew up with – all replaced by number lines and boxes. Exercising patience, I spent some time thinking and reading about the new theories in math education and admit, I became a convert.

Human beings are driven by the idea that with success comes happiness. The harder we work, the more successful we’ll be, which will ultimately make us happier. We subscribe to this in business too, believing that with hard work comes…

A multi-billion dollar global food products company had just completed an acquisition and needed an interim VP. The client was in transition and had several investment opportunities that required performing due diligence, valuations and presentations to the Board of Directors.

As I write this, a Bloomberg headline screams “Global Stocks Fall as China Moves Unnerve Markets,” which is certainly not the first bearish piece we’ve seen over the past few weeks. This challenging environment reinforces the importance of seeking new ways to grow and to enter new markets (see our recent InSights article for some thoughts on how to tackle this).

In order to prepare for a management meeting regarding enterprise risks, board members of a multi-national engineering firm with over $10B in revenue sought advisory assistance.

A PE-backed, family-owned manufacturing company with multiple plants was looking to consolidate its manufacturing operations without compromising customer service, increasing costs, or affecting revenue.

It’s the time of year again when experts everywhere get out their crystal balls and predict what’s to come in the year ahead.

They measure historical trends, tap into reams of data and try to sound very smart. While many of their insights seem credible, some leave us scratching our heads. Certainly we will all use our smartphones more.

When a $5B specialty technology company demonstrated signs of stress – including slowed services growth and uneven performance across geographies – the company sought a thorough evaluation of services strategy and performance.

We in the consulting world pride ourselves on giving good advice, hoping that our clients will heed it. If they don’t, shame on them. And if we ourselves don’t listen? Shame on us.

Guilty as charged.

To address immediate security and data issues, a $2B healthcare services organization needed a long-term strategic IT plan and a short-term action plan.